Device for winding up a continuous length of flexible material



y 14, 1964 A. E. WHITECAR 3,140,839

DEVICE FOR WINDING UP A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL FiledMarch 20, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. ALTEN E. WH ITECAR BYATTORNEYS July 14, 1964 A. E. WHITECAR 3,140,839

DEVICE FOR WINDING up A commuous LENGTH OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL Filed March20, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,140,839DEVICE FOR WINDING UP A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL Alter: E.Whitecar, Westville, N.J., assignor to Smith Kline & FrenchLaboratories, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania FiledMar. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 96,915 1 Claim. (Cl. 242-681) This inventionrelates generally to take-up devices and particularly to means forwinding up tape as it is payed out by a utility.

An object of the invention is to provide such means having a normaloperating capacity exceeding the rate at which the tape is payed out bysaid utility.

Another object is to provide reel driving means manually adjustableduring the winding operation to selectively increase the effectivecoupling between said driving means and reel as required by reason ofthe progressively increasing weight of material wound upon said reel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a knockdown reel utilizinga disposable central core and permanent flange plates respectively atopposite ends of said disposable central core.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent when the followingspecification is read with referrence to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of apparatus construced in accordance with theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged section on the plane indicated by line 3-3 ofFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a section on the plane indicated by line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged section on the plane indicated by line 5-5 ofFIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a section on the plane indicated by line 6-6 of FIGURE 5,showing the friction clutch disengaged; and

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged section on the plane indicated by line 7-7 ofFIGURE 1, showing the friction clutch engaged.

Apparatus embodying the present invention comprises a utility having ahousing 12 mounting a horizontally extending shaft 14 over which isfitted a compression coil spring 16, a pair of holders 18 and a nut 20.Afiixed to the housing 12 is a bracket 22, and suitably mounted betweenthe bracket and the housing are a pair of horizontally extending driverollers 24. Below the drive rollers, between the bracket 22 and thehousing 12, are suitably mounted a pair of horizontally extending shafts26 respectively mounting coacting cutter parts 28 and 30 and a pair ofhorizontally extending shafts 32 respectively mounting coacting cutterparts 34 and 36.

The apparatus also comprises a conveyor, generally designated 38,including head and foot pulleys 40 and a belt 42. At the end of theconveyor is a container 44 for receiving work from the conveyor.

Mounted upon the shaft 14 is a roll of tape 46 made of cellophane or thelike. The tape itself, designated 48, extends downwardly from the roll46 between drive rollers 24, freely through an opening 50 in the bracket22, between cutter parts 28 and 30 and cutter rollers 34 and 36, andfreely through an opening 52 in the bracket 22. Strips of tape cut tothe desired size by cutter parts 28 and 30 and cutter rollers 34 and 36are indicated at 54. The selvage, indicated at 56, extends over a guide58 to a take-up device, generally designated 60.

The take-up device comprises a motor 62 driving a 3,140,839 PatentedJuly 14, 1964 change speed unit 64 from which extends a drive shaft 66.Mounted upon axially spaced portions of the shaft 66 are inner and outerball bearing units, generally designated 68, each of which unitsincludes an inner race 70 affixed to the shaft 66, and outer race 72 andballs 74. Mounted upon the ball bearing units 68 is a reel mountingdevice, generally designated 76.

The device 76 includes inner and outer annuli 78 respectively afiixed tothe outer ball bearing races 72. Embracing the annuli 78 is a hollowcylindrical member 80 secured by screws 82. Afiixed to the outer end ofthe member 80 is a plate 84 into which is threaded one end portion of arod 86 fitted with a lock nut 88 and a wing nut 90. The rod 86 iscoaxially related to the shaft 66 and extends in longitudinalcontinuation thereof.

Mounted upon the device 76 is a reel, generally designated 92, whichreel is provided with a hollow cylina drical core 94 slidably fittedover the member 80 and with inner and outer flange plates respectivelydesignated 96 and 98. The inner flange plate 96 fits over the shaft 66and abuts the inner end of the reel mounting device and the inner end ofthe core 94, while the outer flange plate 98 fits over the rod 86 andabuts the outer end of the core 94. The inner flange plate 96 is afiixedto the annulus 78.

Mounted upon the shaft 66 is a friction clutch, generally designated100, which clutch comprises a pin mount 102 afiixed to the shaft 66. Oneend of the pin mount is provided with a slit 104 and fitted with a screw106 for afiixing the pin mount to the shaft 66. The pin mount carries apair of guide pins 108 extending parallel to the shaft 66.

The clutch also comprises a leaf spring mount 110 slidably fitted overthe shaft 66 and guide pins 108. At each end of the mount is a leafspring 112 affixed to the mount by a screw 116 projected through awasher 114. The leaf spring 112 and the washer 114 are notched, as at118, to accommodate the associated guide pin 108. Thus the leaf spring112 is secured against rotation about the axis of the screw 116. Carriedby the free end of the leaf spring 112 is a nylon friction pad 120secured to the leaf spring by a pin 122.

Fitted over the shaft 66 is a sleeve 124 aflixed to the shaft 66 by aset screw 126, and threaded upon the sleeve 124 is a finger piece 128,which finger piece normally abuts the leaf spring mount 110.

In order to load the apparatus, the nut 20 is turned off shaft 14 andthe outer holder 18 is slipped off the shaft. The roll 46 of tape isthen slipped over shaft 14, and the outer holder 18 and nut 20 arereplaced. The coil spring 16 acts to bias the roll 46 and holder 18against the nut 20. The leading end of the tape 48 is now manuallythreaded between drive rollers 24, through the opening 50 in the bracket22 between cutter parts 28 and 30 and cutter rollers 34 and 36 andthrough the opening 52 in the bracket 22. A few feet of the tape 48 aremanually drawn from the roll 46, whereupon the cutter parts 28 and 30coact to slit the tape longitudinally, while the cutter rollers 34 and36 coact to cut the tape transversly. The finished pieces of work 54drop through the bracket opening 52 onto conveyor belt 42 and arecarried to the container 44. The selvage strip 56 passes freely betweencutter part 28 and cutter roller 34 and over guide 58 to the reel 92.The end of the strip is affixed to the core 94 of the reel.

The take-up device 60 is now adjusted by turning the finger piece 128till it bears upon the leaf spring mount 110 and shifts the same axiallyupon the pins 108 till the leaf springs 112 are deflected and thefriction pads 120 are caused to bear upon the inner flange plate 96.Thus the reel 92 and the reel mounting means 76 are clutched to shaft66.

Now the winding operation is commenced. The rollers 24 draw the tape 48from roll 46 preferably at a predetermined constant average number offeet per minute. Reel mounting means 76, reel 92 and friction clutch 100turn with shaft 66, the initial number of revolutions per minutepreferably being at least suflicient to take up the selvage as it isseparate from tape 48.

As more and more selvage accumulates on the core 94, the diameter of theroll of material on the core 94 increases, and there is a tendency forlost motion to occur through slippage between pads 120 and the flange96. While the coupling between the shaft 66 and the reel 92 must betight enough for actuation of the reel 92, it must be loose enough topermit such slippage. Eventually, the weight of material accumulated onthe reel overcomes the clutching effort and makes re-adjustmentnecessary. Without terminating the winding operation, the finger piece128 is manually turned momentarily to bring increased pressure on theleaf spring mount 110, which shifts axially on the pins 108 toward thepin mount 102, whereupon leaf springs 112 are defiected further andexert more pressure on the pads 120, thereby increasing the clutchingeffort and the effective driving power. Normally, once or twice during awinding operation the coupling between the clutch 100 and reel 92 mustbe made tighter to accommodate the progressively increasing weight ofmaterial accumulated upon the reel, but care must be exercised to avoidmaking the coupling so tight that the slippage necessary to accommodatethe progressively increasing diameter of the roll of material cannotoccur.

When the supply of tape has been exhausted operation of the apparatus isterminated. Wing nut 90 is threaded off the rod 86, the outer flangeplate 98 is removed and the core 94, with the selvage 56 wound thereon,is slipped off the reel mounting means 76 and discarded. A fresh core ismounted upon reel mounting means 76, and flange 98 and wing nut 90' arereplaced. It will be noted that the new core may be either longer orshorter than the core 94 which it replaces, the same flanges 96 and 98and reel mounting means 76 are used; Now the same procedure as alreadyoutlined is repeated.

It will be understood, of course, that the present invention issusceptible of various modifications which may be made without departingfrom the general principles of the invention. Accordingly, it isintended to claim the same broadly as well as specifically, as indicatedby the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A take-up device for winding a continuous length of flexible materialcomprising in combination a constant speed drive means having a driveshaft, a bearing assembly secured on said shaft and fixed against axialmovement along said shaft, a first disc fixed to said bearing assembly,a cylindrical core removably supported by said bearing assembly andhaving one end abutting said first disc, a second disc abutting theother end of said core removable clamping means secured to said bearingassembly and engaging said second disc for removably clamping said discsand core in axially abutting relationship so as to form a reel forwinding said material, a member mounted for rotation with and axialshifting movement upon said shaft adjacent said first disc, spring meanscarried by said member, friction engaging means carried by said springmeans for frictionally engaging said first disc, and manually adjustablemeans mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith and for axialmovement into engagement with said member for increasing the frictionalengagement between said engaging means and said first disc during thewinding of said material upon said reel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

